Subscribers of wireless communication services agree to service with a wireless service provider for a length of time. Most often, the subscriber's obligation is to maintain service with the wireless service provider during the specified time. In some instances, the wireless service provider may require a minimum service level for the length of the obligation.
Wireless service providers offer many services including voice, data, and messaging services. Service providers typically offer several voice plans with varying minute amounts and several data plans with varying data transfer limits including unlimited data. Service providers also typically offer messaging packages for text message, multimedia message, and instant message, for example.
A subscriber may be allowed to upgrade or downgrade a service plan, or may be restricted to only upgrading the service plan during the obligation. If a subscriber is allowed to upgrade or downgrade, the subscriber can call a customer service representative or access the service provider's website to request the change, for example. Changes may be prorated or may be activated at the beginning of the next billing cycle.
As such, a subscriber often must choose a service plan based upon the number of minutes or the data usage the subscriber predicts he or she will utilize during any given month. This is difficult to accurately predict and often results in the subscriber being charged with overage fees for minutes or data transfer beyond that specified under their service plan. Additionally, a service provider may benefit from offering to upgrade or downgrade a subscriber's service plan based upon subscriber history and subscriber usage data acquired from various network entities.